Community Pharmacist’s Perception of the Benefits, Patient’s Needs, Readiness, and Barriers to Implementing Telepharmacy Services
Abstract
Telepharmacy has shown a beneficial impact on delivering pharmacy service yet still has some limitations that discourage pharmacists from using it. The perceptions of pharmacists towards telepharmacy are required to map the strategy to develop telepharmacy. This study was aimed at ascertaining the pharmacists’ perception and analyzing factors associated with perception towards telepharmacy services of community pharmacists in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. A cross-sectional study using a validated 29-item questionnaire was carried out in Yogyakarta during March-July 2023. The survey was conveniently distributed to the community pharmacists using paper-based and Google form links shared to WhatsApp groups and individual contact numbers. Of the 273 pharmacists, 87.5% (N=239) were female, most of them had experienced less than 5 years working in community pharmacy, 44.7% (n=122) and had been implementing telepharmacy, 79.9% (N=218). All the pharmacists showed a positive perception of telepharmacy. Testing the demographic characteristics associated with pharmacists’ perception, showed that the type of pharmacy showed a significant correlation to benefit (p=0.022), readiness (p=0.000), and barrier to implement telepharmacy (0.036), while the availability of telepharmacy has been significantly associated with the perception of benefit (p=0.000), patients’ need (p=0.004), readiness (p=0.000) and barriers to implementing telepharmacy (p=0.0002). The positive perception of community pharmacists in Indonesia regarding telepharmacy service needs to be optimized with comprehensive regulations, guidelines, and technical infrastructure support.
References
Ahliyah, A. A. (2022). Persepsi Apoteker tentang Telefarmasi pada Pelayanan Kefarmasian di Apotek pada Masa Pandemi COVID-19 di Kota Malang. Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang.
Ahmed, N. J., Almalki, Z. S., Alsawadi, A. H., Alturki, A. A., Bakarman, A. H., Almuaddi, A. M., Alshahrani, S. M., Alanazi, M. B., Alshehri, A. M., Albassam, A. A., Alahmari, A. K., Alem, G. M., Aldosari, S. A., & Alamer, A. A. (2023). Knowledge, Perceptions, and Readiness of Telepharmacy among Hospital Pharmacists in Saudi Arabia. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 11(8), 1087. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11081087
Angaran, D. M. (1999). Telemedicine and telepharmacy Special Feature. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 56 (14)(July 15), 1405–1426.
CSHP. (2018). Telepharmacy: Guidelines. Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists.
Dat, T. Van, Tran, T. D., My, N. T., Nguyen, T. T. H., Quang, N. N. A., Tra Vo Nguyen, M., Hong Ngoc Vo, P., Ho, T.-T., Manh Nguyen, C., Thi Ngoc Nguyen, T., Lac-Thuy, N.-H., Nguyen, N. T., Thi Trinh, D.-T., Nguyen-Thi, H.-Y., & Huy, N. T. (2022). Pharmacists’ Perspectives on the Use of Telepharmacy in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The Journal of Pharmacy Technology : JPT : Official Publication of the Association of Pharmacy Technicians, 38(2), 106–114. https://doi.org/10.1177/87551225221076327
Elnaem, M., Akkawi, M. E., Al-shami, A., & Elkalmi, R. (2022). Telepharmacy Knowledge, Perceptions, and Readiness among Future Malaysian Pharmacists Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic. Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, 56(January), 9–16. https://doi.org/10.5530/ijper.56.1.2
Fattah, A., Farid, A. F., Firdausy, A. Z., Sulaiman, A. M., Simangunsong, D. E., Eka, F., Maulida, F., Varianti, A., Ong, K. K., Kristiany, L., Endah, N., Diningsih, M., Febiani, N., Azzahra, S. N., Komalasari, S., Zulfah, Y., & Aryani, T. (2022). Efektivitas Penggunaan Layanan Telefarmasi di Era Pandemi COVID-19 dari Perspektif Masyarakat. Jurnal Farmasi Komunitas, 9(2), 152–157.
Field, M. J. (1996). Telemedicine : A Guide to Assessing Telecommunications for Health Care. national Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/5296
Hakim, Elsie F.; Pardede, G. (2022). Digital Health.
Jirjees, F., Odeh, M., Aloum, L., Kharaba, Z., & Al-obaidi, H. J. (2022). The rise of telepharmacy services during the COVID-19 pandemic : A comprehensive assessment of services in the United Arab Emirates. 20(2), 1–11.
Ken Research. (2022). Indonesia Pharmacy Retail Market Outlook to 2022. KR589. https://www.kenresearch.com/healthcare/pharmaceuticals/indonesia-pharmacy-retail-market/143544-91.html
Kimber, M. B., & Peterson, G. M. (2006). Telepharmacy — Enabling Technology to Provide Quality Pharmacy Services in Rural and Remote Communities. Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research, 36(2), 128–133.
MoH. (2021). The Regulatory of Indonesian Ministry of Health (MoH) No. HK.01.07/MENKES/4829/2021 concerning The Guidelines of Healthcare Services through Telemedicine Amid the Pandemic of Corona Virus Disease. The Indonesian Ministry of Health.
Muhammad, K., Baraka, M. A., Shah, S. S., Butt, M. H., Wali, H., Saqlain, M., Mallhi, T. H., Hayat, K., Fahelelbom, K. M., Joseph, R., & Khan, Y. H. (2022). Exploring the perception and readiness of Pharmacists towards telepharmacy implementation; a cross sectional analysis. PeerJ, 10(May 25), e13296. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13296
Park, J. Y., Zed, P. J., & Vera, M. A. De. (2022). Perspectives and experiences with telepharmacy among pharmacists in Canada: A cross-sectional survey. Pharmacy Practice, 20(1), 2609. https://doi.org/10.18549/PharmPract.2022.1.2609
Poudel, Arjun; Nissen, L. M. (2016). Telepharmacy : a pharmacist ’ s perspective on the clinical benefits and challenges. Dovepress, 5(October 26), 75–82.
